No, this is not a photo of Kevin McCallister's eerie, snowshovel-wielding neighbor in Home Alone.
This is my great great great grandfather, Ira S. Hatch -- a man with a very interesting past.
I have known for years that Ira served his LDS (read: Mormon) mission in the Navajo/Paiute regions of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona and New Mexico. His second wife was Sarah Maraboots - daughter of a Navajo chief. By all historical accounts (read: Mormon genealogies) his work and deeds–not just as a missionary, but as a frontiersman–were legendary.
What I have learned recently is a bit more disturbing.
On September 11, 1857 about 120 men, women, and children were killed in cold blood during the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The victims were members of a westward-bound wagon train from Arkansas. The culprits were unprovoked men from a local Mormon militia in Southern Utah. My great (x4) grandfather was apparently one of the key players in what is known in history as one of the worst incidents of domestic terrorism on American soil.
Gotta love history.
For a great video detailing the Mountain Meadows Massacre, click here (12 minutes).
Friday, February 01, 2008
Terrorism is in My Blood
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8 comments:
I think you need to learn more about Mormon History before you start tossing about catch phrases like "cold blooded" and "domestic terrorism.
It happened in wartime, there were 8-20 drunken self confessed assassins shooting up the town. These men completely ignored arrangements set up for trains moving through the war involved region.
If you are a Hatch--believe me. September Dawn a the worst possible place to get information about your ancestors.
The way it happened is not much better but is consistent with the
norms of war in the last two centuries--we have much more to answer for there.
K,
I realize that the movie September Dawn is a Hollywood depiction of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and because I want to avoid compromising the credibility of my post, I have changed the link to the story of the MMM to a more universally reputable site.
The other reference I used was from a self-proclaimed historian of the Hatch family. I don't know him personally, but he is obviously a devoted member of the LDS church. His recognition of the horrors of this incident shows his intellectual honesty, which I appreciate.
As far as your issue with the language I selected, the terms "cold-blooded" and "terror" are truly inadequate in describing the horror of Mormon men murdering over 120 unarmed men, women, and children after riding in under a flag of truce. Don't bother trying to convince me that somehow they were justified.
One other depiction of the MMM that I didn't cite in my post came from the pen of Mark Twain himself, when he wrote:
"The whole United States rang with its horrors,"
I do not believe I overstated the situation.
Your ancestor would be so proud of you . . . .
Does it really matter if THIS ancestor is proud of you? Do you really think God is proud of Ira Hatch?!? I'd rather be in God's favor, than in the favor of a dead ancestor.
Heidi
Since the time I wrote the post you referenced, the shock of what I have found has lessened somewhat. I have researched the issue quite a bit, and have come to the conclusion that what happened in 1857 was not so much an act of terrorism as we define it today. Those people who acted out that awful crime did not do it because they wanted to kill for killing sake, or to promote a political agenda—They honestly felt they were at war. Wagon trains passed before and after the ill-fated Fancher party came through without being harmed, but it appears that there were several misunderstandings that occurred which brought the settlers to the conclusion that the this particular party was a threat and so they felt what they were doing was more of an act of self-defense. Even with that said, no words or explanation can excuse what happened 150 years ago. All we can do is learn from the past, and look forward and make sure that something like that never happens again.
Wow. How's that for spin, eh?
Renman,
I appreciate your comments, but I worry that -- even though your final sentence denounced the massacre -- the bulk of your response tried to give some semblance of justification for the actions of these brutal men.
When Joseph Smith was murdered by the people of Carthage, MO, I'm sure they could have "justified" their actions by saying that they were trying to save the town from an arsonist whose ambitions included setting himself up as the theocratic king and taking any wife he wished from any man in town -- just by saying it was God's will.
While I consider the massacre of over 120 unarmed men, women, and children to be far more deplorable than what happened to the Smith brothers (which I admit was an act of evil), I think you would agree that the motivations in either case, genuine as they may be, don't remotely begin to justification to the actions of either group.
Please know that I respect you greatly for your willingness to look honestly at the past (and write about it), even when it puts our ancestors in a bad light.
Just to clarify, my comments were intended to speak more towards the motivation for the crime without providing any justification for it. Any time a crime is investigated, a very necessary component to aid in seeing the overall picture of the crime is to determine motive. As I researched that aspect, I was lead to conclude that the motivation for this crime was not hate, nor or revenge, nor even bloodlust, but that the settlers felt that what they were doing was self-defense. Having determined that however, does not let them off the hook, or justify in any way what they did.
By the way, keep your eye on my blog www.thegfiles.net. In a couple of days I’ll be posting an interesting story I found about Ira and his son, who, thorough a case of mistaken identity, was killed in cold blood (maybe a little karma there).
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